No bail for 2 charged with sacrilege in Point Fortin church

A Point Fortin magistrate denied bail to a woman and man jointly charged with sacrilege.

Lily Bahadoor, 19, of St Margaret’s Village in Claxton Bay and Jamal Joseph, 34, of Laventille, faced magistrate Alicia Chankar on Monday. The charge was indictable, so they were not called up to plead.

The charge against them alleged that they recently broke into the Point Fortin Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church and stole a quantity of electrical items like speakers and mikes.

The magistrate remanded them into custody and adjourned the case to February 6.

Joseph was slapped with an additional charge, larceny of a van, for which he pleaded guilty, and the magistrate sentenced him to 12 months’ jail with hard labour.

The court heard that on December 24, he stole a Nissan Navara worth $90,000 in the Point Fortin district and sold it for $13,000.

WPC Williams and PC Ferdinand laid the charge while Sgt Manolal prosecuted.

On Thursday, in the Santa Flora district, South Western Division police arrested Bahadoor, Joseph, and a suspect, 22, from Pleasantville in connection with the alleged sacrilege incident.

Several items were recovered.

The third suspect was handed over to Southern Division police for allegedly shooting and wounding a man last year in San Fernando and robbery-related offences.

Snr Supt Remy, W/Supt Theodore-Persad, ASP Nanan, ASP Victor, ASP Mathura and Insp Prescott co-ordinated the exercise, which included Cpl Carter and other police.